Plagueheart Armor
(4 May 2007) A warlock of the Forsaken venturing through the Plaguelands in (appropriately enough)
Plagueheart Armor.

Krisi the Rogue (in Defias Leather) Over Stormwind
(1 May 2007) Krisi, a rogue of the Alliance, attired in a full set of Defias Leather Armor, fighting some unseen
opponent with throwing blades atop the rooftops of the city of Stormwind. In the background, I've chosen to depict
both of Azeroth's moons - the White Lady and the Blue Child - though the latter isn't actually visible in the online
game. ("Krisi" is one of Chris Stadler's Warcraft characters.)

Paladin in Judgement Armor (with Libram)
(27 Apr 2007) The Judgement set is probably my favorite of any of the complete armor sets. (No, I never got high
enough in level in the game, or went on any raids in order to actually get any of the pieces. But if I DID, why, I
think I'd probably just want to keep that outfit for the sheer coolness of it, never mind if anything else had better
stats. ;) )

Goblin Shredder Upgrade
(2 Apr 2007) A goblin alchemist/tinker directs his minions (an ogre and a gnoll) in the process of refitting
a shredder.

Ogre Juggernaut
(27 Mar 2007) A flotilla of ogre juggernauts chugs along, under the direction of an ogre drummer up on deck.
(Design based on the juggernauts from Warcraft II, and the juggernaut that appears in the Deadmines in the online
game.)

Yarrrglglglglglglgl!
(31 Jan 2007) I actually drew this sketch several weeks ago at one of my Thursday night "art jams",
but I lost the sketch until just now. Here, a murloc pirate storms the deck of an ill-fated
vessel (with a few buddies lurking behind him).

Gnoll Gourmand
(20 Jan 2007) A rough sketch from the "art jam" of a character concept I came up with for a D&D
campaign a long time ago ... then tried to revive for my wife's Warcraft campaign. In both cases, it
didn't go over very well. (Too silly.) Anyway, the idea was for a traveling gnoll who fancied him a
"gourmet" (by gnoll standards), though it would be more accurate to just call him a "gourmand" (a
glutton). His driving raison d'etre was to travel the world to find exotic creatures ... and cook
them. I made up some house rules for
"exotic cooking"
elsewhere on my web site, that
would have given him a little more practical value for an adventuring party. (But then, as a general
rule of thumb, it's not play-balance-kosher to invent a new "class" and then volunteer to play it
yourself in your wife's campaign. Tsk tsk.)

High Elf Paladin
(20 Jan 2007) Another rough character sketch of a Warcraft character I would have liked to play.
Anyway, forget blood elf paladins - I wanted a high elf paladin. The high elves in World of Warcraft
seem to have a lot of possibility for story development: their backstory is far from pristine, yet they
have some socially-redeeming value as allies of humans and dwarves. And then, there could be some
questions of loyalty, after the actions of the blood elves. (Are you then still our ally, or just a
"plant" for the enemy?) To further add to the angst, I imagined that this character might have been
a Scarlet Crusader, who was so desperate to prove the loyalty of his people to the Alliance that he
overlooked many of the excesses of his "order". At some point, I imagine he probably would have lost
his status as paladin - and then he'd have to embark upon a quest of atonement. (And perhaps if my
GM were feeling generous enough, eventually he might achieve that. Until then, he'd just be a warrior
with no special feats.)

Ice Revenant
(20 Jan 2007) Although I never quite explored it to my satisfaction, I found the concept of "Malevore"
interesting from my D&D "Inferno" campaign - an evil but principled creature that was honor-bound to
serve a hero of markedly different alignment ... but with a lingering menace and the possibility that
he might have his own ultimate motives, and might turn against the heroes if they were to take him too
lightly. Another character concept (vetoed by Gwendel) that I wanted to try out would have been an
Ice Revenant, honor-bound to perform a long-ranging quest, or otherwise assist the heroes as a group.
I can see how it would have been problematic on several levels.

Northshire Priest
(20 Jan 2007) Possibly the most realistic and conventional of my potential character concepts - a
Priest of the Holy Light with a level or two of Paladin or Warrior - hence the opportunity to try out
that "robes and armor" look. Just to be ornery, I'd make him a member of the Northshire Clergy (who
were responsible for coming up with the original orders of paladins, and who had a philosophy far more
theistic than the retconned "philosophy of the Light" from the RPG).

Screenshot: Marazhu Blowing Up the Dark Portal
(7 Jan 2007) Finally, I'm free from World of Warcraft! Well, sort of. My account expired, and I have
no plan to renew it for the time being. To commemorate this event (sort of), I posed my
tauren druid character, Marazhu Raincaller, with the "Thermotastic Egg Timer" (an off-hand item that
looks like a lit stick of dynamite) at the Dark Portal, ready to blow the thing to pieces! (I did a bit
of Photoshop "enhancement" to make the sparkling dynamite a bit clearer; those sparkles don't show up
all that well in a "freeze frame".)

Sidian 'Easy' Glasswater, Naga Warrior
(16 Nov 2006) Sidian Glasswater (AKA "Easy"), a naga mercenary with a mutation rare among male nagas:
he has four arms. (All the better for holding more weapons!) He's also accompanied by
"Sir Hacks-a-Lot", a creation of the maniacal toymaker of Darkshire - one that has proved at least
moderately useful as a camp guard.

Lahamu, Tauren Druid, at Thunder Bluff
(11 Sep 2006) Lahamu, a tauren druidess, sitting atop the bank at Thunder Bluff, with her pet
dark whelpling (which is helping itself to the contents of her pack).

Warcraft Barrens Unicorn (Zhevra)
(6 Jul 2006) A zebra-striped unicorn-like creature that wanders the Barrens, known as a "zhevra".

Silky the Nerubian Puppeteer at the Darkmoon Faire
(29 Jun 2006) Silky, a Nerubian exile and adventurer, putting on a puppet show at the Darkmoon Faire.
("Silky" is a creation of Toivo Rovainen - a PC in a very strange Warcraft campaign featuring an
assortment of different races brought together via Booty Bay and the Darkmoon Faire.)

Frenzy Racing Sketches at Shimmering Flats
(28 Jun 2006) I actually sketched this a few months ago, sometime in February (when the Lunar Festival
was going on, I think) - when Marazhu's guild, Shne Wa Porah,
was hosting a weekly "Frenzy Racing" event at the Shimmering Flats on Thursday nights.
Basically, it involved two (or more) people racing on foot
around the track, using whatever powers they had at their disposal, though anything that totally
incapacitated the opponent (or killed him - which would accomplish the same thing, really) would
disqualify the offender. Monitors would ride along on raptor-back or kodo-back to watch for cheating
... and to fend off "gankers" (people looking for easy kills on members of the opposing faction), since
this event could have Horde and Alliance participants, and they had to be PVP-flagged to participate.
Pictured are Pyrem (who organized the event and gave instructions), Zulgha (a spectator who had an
interesting outfit), and Amonn (the sole Alliance participant that night), as sketched by Marazhu from
the stands.

Paenitia as a Draenei Paladin at Northshire Abbey
(23 Jun 2006) Paenitia (a character created by John Boulton) as a Draenei Paladin of the Light at
Northshire Abbey.

Tuurog and Nimwena Poster
(20 Jun 2006) A poster advertising the services of Tuurog and Nimwena, tailors for the refined orc.

Tuurog
(20 Jun 2006) Tuurog, an orc spellcaster - and tailor. (Character of an unknown player who is on
the Feathermoon server, who often adventures with Gwendel.)

Nimwena
(20 Jun 2006) Nimwena, Tuurog's "lovely assistant". (Tuurog is an orc spellcaster played by some
guy I don't know the real name of, but who's a really great guy anyway, on Feathermoon server.)

Marazhu Raincaller - Tauren Druid
(19 Jun 2006) Marazhu, Son of Wahiemba, of Raincaller Tribe - a Tauren Druid of Shne Wa Porah.
(Portrait of my primary character on Feathermoon server - a tauren druid dedicated to the cause of
trying to bring the Alliance and Horde together against the greater threats of the Burning Legion,
the Scourge, and the Silithid. Needless to say, thanks to the way World of Warcraft is programmed,
his ambitions are pretty quixotic.)

Nightbane Worgen
(12 Jun 2006) A worgen of the Nightbane tribe, at the entrance to Roland's Doom - an abandoned
mine in Duskwood.

Wind Serpent
(08 Jun 2006) A flying reptile with the power to launch bursts of lightning at its foes.

Naga Snap Dragon
(08 Jun 2006) An aquatic reptilian creature used as a mount and war beast by the naga.

Naga Couatl
(06 Jun 2006) An aquatic/flying serpentine creature trained by the Naga Sirens - especially
suited to hunting down mages, since they have an inherent ability to negate magical auras.

Pyrewood Peasant Were-Worgen
(05 Jun 2006) A peasant of Pyrewood - a cursed village of Lordaeron - is caught out too late while
gathering wood. Under the light of the moon, he suffers a savage transformation.

Sasta ala World of Warcraft
(28 Apr 2006) Sasta, reinterpreted as a warrioress of Azeroth. [Sasta is the creation of
John Boulton.]

SCREENSHOT: Marazhu in Stocks
(28 Dec 2005) Marazhu (my tauren character) is interrogated by Tuurog the Orc Warlock in Hammerfall.
Just a bit of goofing around with the terrain on Feathermoon server to get an "interesting shot".
No tauren were harmed in the making of this screenshot. [Tuurog is the creation of Tuurog's
mysterious and anonymous player.]

Necronomicon PCs #1
(Oct 2005) A montage of character portraits for a World of Warcraft d20 scenario for Necronomicon
2005 - a Tampa, Florida sci-fi/fantasy/horror convention. An unlikely band of heroes is hired by
a goblin company in Booty Bay to retake the Goldstrike Mine, after it has been overrun by kobolds.

Necronomicon PCs #2
(Oct 2005) A montage of character portraits for a World of Warcraft d20 scenario for Necronomicon
2005 - a Tampa, Florida sci-fi/fantasy/horror convention. An unlikely band of heroes is hired by
a goblin company in Booty Bay to retake the Goldstrike Mine, after it has been overrun by kobolds.

Mon Signor Simony
(02 Sep 2005) Mon Signor Simony, a rare goblin priest (and tinker) who spreads the Teachings
of the Profits. (No, that's not a typographical error.) Here he is pictured with his Portable
Halo of Holiness. No, it doesn't do the least bit of good against undead, but nobody's definitively
proven it yet.